1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and system for automatically initiating additional procedures within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically generating reports and initiating additional procedures with regard to a document within a data processing system in response to stored evaluators of that document.
2. Description of the Related Art
The modern electronic office is rapidly supplanting and replacing many aspects of the traditional paper office. Modern office systems utilize electronic mail, voice mail, centralized databases and other forms of electronic communication to decrease the amount of so-called "float" encountered in a traditional paper society. By utilizing electronic mail it is possible for a document to be simultaneously transmitted to multiple recipients at various points around the world. Despite the advent of widespread electronic communication, selected activities within the traditional paper office have been difficult to implement in an electronic society.
For example, the automatic initiation of procedures in a data processing system in response to an external stimulus is well known in the art. Alarm circuits are known which may be utilized to control the initialization or termination of various security procedures. Similarly, access code programs are often utilized to permit a computer user accessed to a building, office or file in response to the entry by the computer user of an appropriate security code. However, the initiation of one or more of a plurality of different procedures based upon the existence or nonexistence of multiple factors is not possible in the prior art. Thus, the initiation of a data processing procedure based upon anything more than a simple presence or absence of a particular signal or code is unknown in the art.
Those skilled in the electronic office art appreciate that it would be highly desirable to implement one of a plurality of different procedures based upon the substantive content of a document or a group of documents. Such an advance in the data processing system art would greatly enhance the efficiency of the electronic office and permit a much larger amount of clerical work to be automated without the necessity of human intervention.
Therefore, it should be apparent that a need exists for a method and apparatus which permits the automatic initiation of additional procedures within a data processing system in response to a complex set of parameters.